We have been very busy responding to your comments on the subject of improving tone quality and this makes me very pleased for all musicians should be concerned with their sound.
In this the third installment on the subject of a focused sound, we will be addressing two related and equally important elements in producing an impressive sound.
The first will be the size of the aperture between your lips and the second will be direction of the air stream through your instrument.
1. Aperture size and shape.
How often have you thought about the size and shape of the opening between your lips as you play a note? I have to admit that until recently this was not at the top of my “activities for the day” list. My attention to this area of my trumpet playing began more than a year ago as I watched one of the million videos on YouTube that claimed to be able to solve all of your trumpet needs in 30 seconds. The author of this instructional video was pontificating on the benefits of some high note methods and one statement he said caught my ear. His said this “I always have my students begin a note without tonguing in order to make sure their lips are apart”. This was something I had not thought about and I began practicing his suggestion. Halleluiah! I was one of those players who started each note with my lips touching in the center. Gradually I began playing with my lips so slightly apart and several improvements became apparent.
5 advantages of having my lips slightly apart while I played.
1. Soft notes speak more easily
2. Wide slurs became much more consistent and connected
3. The higher register improved
4. My tone became more full and rich in timbre
5. I began to put much more air through my instrument
When checking to see if you are leaving a space between your lips, just start playing your music without tonguing any of your notes. Take a deep breath, and blow. Too many times we get into the bad habit of counting on a strong tongue attack to get the lips moving. By starting your notes with just the air you will soon realize how much we have become addicted to the tongue attack. The amount of time it will take you to be able to use air rather than your tongue will vary among players. Some will already be doing it correctly and some may find that this may take some concentration to be able to play with an open aperture at all times. If you find this foreign to you, just think how much you will improve as it becomes natural to you.
With a more open aperture, your tone will open up to a more resonant sound and moving from one octave to the next will be more connected and easier to negotiate.
You will also realize that your volume (decibel) will increase and you will not have to work as hard. Soft entrances will be more secure and your stock portfolio will increase dramatically. “Sorry, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention”.
2. Direction of air stream
How many of you are up streamers and how many are down streamers? When we speak of up and down stream we of course are referring to the direction and angle of the horn past your lips. “For most players” the horn should be positioned at a 90 degree angle to your face.
Thousands of years ago when I began to play trumpet we were taught the “Pivot System” which was promoted by Donald Reinhart. As I became older and more wise I began to rethink my view of this system and have eventually restricted its use to only the notes below the staff. This revelation started to form as I watched and listen to one of the great trumpet players of our time, Mr. Don Thomas, from the Dallas, Texas area. During one of our jingle sessions, I observed Don as he was asked to repeatedly play an F above high C. Time after time this trumpet master popped off every one with pin point accuracy, never missing one. As he continued to demonstrate his accuracy, I noticed that his embouchure remained the same regardless of what octave he was playing. This demonstration of effortless playing remained with me for many years and slowly I started to realize that the best players seemed to change very little in the embouchure as they moved from one octave to another. On the other hand when I moved around the instrument, my embouchure looked as if I were reciting the alphabet. That is when I decided to limit my use of the Pivot System.
As I searched through my collection of videos to illustrate my point, I came across this video of a friend of mine by the name of Bobby Shew. Mr. Shew performed with my jazz ensemble while I was teaching at UNI and that concert is still talked about. As you watch the closeups in the video, pay close attention to Bobby’s embouchure. This is the best example I can share with you on what to do with your chops as you play. This is Mr. Efficiency at its best! Oh, and Carl Saunders isn’t bad either.
Review
Keep your lips apart.
Blow straight out into and through your horn.
Our next topic in this ever enlarging post will deal with the issue of “Over adjusting” while you play.
Thank you so much for this its helping me
Are you familiar with Carmine Caruso? I do his six note exercise to begin my practice time; it is a breath attack exercise.
BTW…great blog!
I am familiar with the Caruso method and agree with the concept as do many “Old School” players.